He said: "We will look carefully and fairly at what robust research and sound practice have to tell us about how schools and early years settings can best deliver high quality teaching that results in successful learning for all children."

The proportion of England's 11-year-olds reaching the required standard at reading in national tests has increased from 67% to 83% since 1997.

However, critics say there is much "teaching to the test", questioning whether literacy levels have genuinely increased as much as claimed.